Unreal TV

[the_siobhan]

I KNOW there are people on my f-list who watch reality shows. Can't fool me, I know you are out there.

So I ask you, what shows do you like? Which ones do you hate? Which shows do you love to hate?

And Why?

Let's call it research.

(And it just occurs to me now - are there communities devoted to such things?)

Comments

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

The only one I watch is "The Biggest Loser". I quite enjoy it because I see people with the same sorts of problems as mine fighting to overcome them and winning, and with very positive and visible changes both physically and mentally. I hate the politics aspect of voting people out, but sometimes it does make the team stronger. I also appreciate that in the finale they usually bring everyone back together and give everyone who got voted off early the chance for a lesser consolation prize for whomever did the best at achieving their goals even without the assistance of the trainers and isolated environment for most of the time. It's unfortunate that those who start out with less weight to lose usually get booted first and really don't have a good shot of winning because their total % weightloss capacity is inherently smaller, but I think the producers are now compensating by trying to get a little more uniformity in the group in terms of relative obesity.

None of the other reality shows have that positive spin on them - they're just bickering dramafests for the most part. The Amazing Race has potential, but the selected contestants are usually self-centered ignorant asses, and I don't want to watch them traveling the world, bickering constantly (travel is stressful!), and giving Americans an even worse name by their poor behavior.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

So The Biggest Loser is a weight-loss competition?

That's a bit... worrying. Do they have any controls in place? Like if somebody started developing bulemia or something, would they catch it?

[spacekadt.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah... they have two trainers there all the time and they're pretty heavily "watched". It's all about teaching them to eat right and how to exercise. It's actually a pretty good show.

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like Spacekadt says, it's all doctor monitored and under the suprvision of two professional personal trainers. They are working out more (3-4 hours a day) and eating a smidge less than might be considered a completely healthy and maintainable loss rate, but those are guidelines at best in the first place. Several people have started the show finding out they had diabetes, and were clear of it by the end. That kind of thing is encouraging.

[kest]

You think *that's* worrrying? You know there's been more than one plastic surgery reality show, right?

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I've heard of the The Swan. There were others?